Stung By Surprise
by My Pencil Has Wood
Summary: AU Ichigo joins the second squad and hopes to be able to win Rukia's heart in Seireitei, but his career as a soul reaper has more than just Rukia thinking about him. His insistence on being Soi Fon's friend leaves her torn between her needs and her past.
1. Chapter 1

This is my first attempt at writing a story in years! I hope you guys enjoy this one. Its a fanfic that asks, "What if Ichigo wasn't saved by his mom when the Grand Fisher attacked his mom and himself?" My answer to it is what you will be reading and hopefully enjoying. While reading you might think that the characterization isn't true to the character's in the manga/anime, but seeing as how the plot isn't the same as the manga/anime there are going to be situations that arise that wouldn't normally come to be and in these situations I try to make the characters as true to the original story as possible. I'm a developing writer; I want to get better, but I want to have some fun as I do it, so I'm writing stories that I would like to see in stories that I already like. If you are a reviewer and want to do me a favor evaluate my story. It would be valuable to me to have your opinion.

*~*~*~*  
In less than a second Ichigo had been killed. One instant his mother is trying to save him; the next instant a short, dark haired woman with a sword is fighting a giant, four legged creature with a fishing lure dangling out of its forehead. He stood watching his hysterical mother clutch his limp, blood soaked body, while being stunned by his out of body experience. Confusion and shock left his body rigid and inable to move from where he was standing. Trembling Ichigo tensely grasped a sudden unknown addition to his body; a long silver chain was nailed into the center of his chest, with the other end nailed into the same spot on his corpse.

The sword carrying woman had a tough time with the quickness of her enemy. Most of the time she went on the offensive the creature would nimbly move out of her range of attack and do so that whenever he dodged it would set him up for a good attack position. After the woman tried to take out her opponent by sword three times (being minorly wounded on the third try) she wised up on what to do. Running toward her enemy, holding her sword as if she was going to repeat the same attack, she faked a sword strike and assertively cried out an incantation. As the creature reacted to the fake a bolt of blue lightning exploed from the palm of the woman's left hand, struck the creature in its face, electrocuting and atrophying every muscle in his body with crackling indigo sparks. The electric attack immobilized the creature leaving all his muscles unable to move. The woman's plan worked perfectly; leaving her with an easy kill. The first words she spoke were with a pious tone of voice and a look of pride in her eyes,"Now you will pay for your sins against the living. All your crimes will go punished in Hell." And she then swung her sword down across the face of the monster, causing it to howl in pain.

A towering doorway of steel materialized behind the wounded monster. With a shriek of grinding metal the giant doorways opened and revealed an equally as giant shadowy entity garbed in samurai armor. With a malevolent chuckle it unsheathed its blade and effortlessly impaled the monster. The tissues that composed the monster's body startled trickling away like falling sand with gusts of wind as its aggravated cries sounded until all of its body was eroded away. When the creature was killed the executionor from hell sank back into the black depths beyond the door, followed by the doors moaning shut with a final bang and vanishing.

As the doors had closed the armed woman turned from her enemy's descent into hell and walked toward Ichigo and his panicking mother. Ichigo and the woman were both at a loss for words. Ichigo, because of his reality defying experiences and the woman because of her empathy for Ichigo and his mother. For a second the two just looked at each other without a word said until the woman broke the silence. "I apologize for not being here in time to save your life, but that is in the past." She spoke gravely and pensively. "My name is Rukia Kuchiki and I am a shinigami. What just attacked you and killed you is a hollow. Had I not been here to kill the hollow your soul would have been devoured by it."

Shinigami? Hollows? At the moment no information could clear the child's mind."B-but shinigamis aren't real! They're just from fairy tales!" Ichigo was scrambling to save any piece of reality that he could.

"They are very real. When you come to pass you will know this. You are going to a place called Soul Society. There you will live a thousand years before you start to age one Earth year and you will not have to fear hollows."

"But I don't want to go to Soul Society!" Ichigo protested. "I want to stay here with my momma! She can't take care of me if I am in Soul Society! I don't want to go!"

Little Ichigo ran to his mother's side. While trying to grab his mom he pleaded, "Momma! She is trying to take me away to Soul Society! She is trying to take me away from you, but I'm not going! I'm staying here with you!" His clutches moved through her body like it was air and his words fell on deaf ears. Ichigo's mom was still clenching her son's body and shouting out to a pedestrian who had stumbled on to the bloody scene and was calling for an ambulance on his cell phone. Ichigo's eyes widened and he didn't shout anymore when it dawned on him that there was no reaching his mom. He started to whimper and his eyes gushed tears. Never before had his mother ignored him and now the first time it happened it was a merciless first taste of life without his mother. Her lack of reaction was not a mere consequence of a mother disciplining her child that was acting like a brat, he was dead and he could never see her again.

Ichigo started to sob with pitiful, heart piercing screams. Rukia was at a loss as to what to do. She never did konsou on a lone child in a scenario like this. What could she say? On deciding that there were no words to make the situation any better Rukia acted by impulse. Rukia crouched down and took the agonizing child into her arms and embraced and tried to comfort him the best she could. Rubbing his back and placing her other hand on the back of his orange head she said, "I know you are facing times that would challenge you even if your mother was with you, but she isn't the only person that will ever take care of you. There are people in Soul Society that will love you and care for you until you are able to meet your mother. It's time for you to pass on, face your new life, and grow from it."

With that Rukia drew her sword and commited konsou while holding Ichigo. As Ichigo's body was illuminated with white light he lifted his head from her shoulder, looked into her eyes with his watered eyes and whispered, "Don't leave me when we get there." Rukia's own eyes began to tear up. She couldn't say anything to that; people who had passed appeared randomly in Rukongai, she would be lucky to find one of one hundred that she had performed konsou on. Still, she felt indebted to the kid and wanted to help him. "What is your name?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki."

"I will look for you in Soul Society."

At that moment Ichigo teleported to Soul Society with a flash of light, leaving Rukia alone with Ichigo's mom and the man that stopped to help. Shrill ambulance sirens could be heard cutting through the air and Rukia looked at Ichigo's mom thinking about how she would onlly be hurt again when the paramedics pronounce her son dead. Rukia studied Ichigo's face frozen in the pain that he died in and remembered it so that she might find him in the afterlife.

*~*~*~*  
Ichigo's reflections of the past were streaming through his mind. His abrupt departure from the human world and his family. The first time he ever laid his eyes on a shinigami; the same shinigami being the first person to help him gain a firm foothold in his existence at Soul Society, and the friends that he had made in Rukongai. Those moments of his life came together to form what he had now: enrollment in the school that educated the shinigami that now resided in Seiretei.

It was Rukia Kuchiki that recommended him. It was by no miraculous chance that she found him(to the extreme surprise of Rukia). She did not even have to look for him more than once. As soon as young Ichigo learned where the gates to Seireitei were, he planted himself in front of the southern gateway waiting for her to come pick him up. The gate guardian Jidanbo came to the southern gate and talked with Ichigo on the reason for him waiting there. On learning Ichigo's intentions with Rukia, he is skeptical, but holds those feelings to himself as to not crush the child's hopes. Jidanbo befriended Ichigo and in Ichigo's time of waiting he discovers that Ichigo has a possibility to be a soul reaper since he contains reiatsu. Since the area along the southern gate was the most common one for konsou arrivals, Rukia decided to begin looking there and a few days after she met Ichigo she swiftly recovered him.

Though it had been years since he had last seen her, never could Ichigo forget Rukia Kuchiki. She helped him more than just once. If not for her he would be just a commoner in the streets of Rukongai. What she did for him made Ichigo find Rukia more beautiful than she was just by her appearance. Ichigo had heard of the great power of the Kuchiki nobility. Because of the family's reputation he expected Rukia to become captain someday and if so, he wanted to be her lieutenant.

The idea of being a lieutenant was not an unlikely thought. Ichigo had taken shinigami classes for four years and he received exceptionally high marks in hohou, hakuda, and zanjutsu: the shinigami skills of movement, hand-to-hand combat, and sword fighting. Kidou was something that Ichigo had difficulty handling. The basic levels of the spells were no problem for him, but those were the only ones he could pull off. The only other shortcoming he had was a shortcoming on a technicality. His ability to power down his reiatsu was completely ineffective. The only people he could ever train with were his teachers due to the might of his reiatsu which was impressive for the extent of his experience. There was much talk amongst people of the shinigami school about Ichigo Kurosaki. He wasn't at the level of Toushiro Hitsugaya or Gin Ichimaru before they earned their captain status at Seireitei, but he showed amazing potential none the less.

Ichigo was disturbed from his musings on Rukia by the ringing of the bell that dismissed class. After he picked up his hohou manual and rose from his desk his teacher called out his name.

"Yes, Instructor Seiba?"

"Come to my desk, Ichigo. I would like to talk to you about the prospects that are available to you in Seireitei." Instructor Seiba warmly beckoned Ichigo over with a smile and a wave of his hand.

Ichigo was eager to have this conversation. Instructor Seiba was a man that tried to bring the best out of his students and since Ichigo was a talented student Instructor Seiba always had words of encouragement for him. As Ichigo stopped in front of his instructor's desk Seiba began to speak to Ichigo as he sat from his chair.

"Now, Ichigo, it is no secret among this school that you are a gifted young man. As your teacher I want you to take full advantage of the skills that you have and let you know what your best choices are in Seireitei. Among the Gotei Thirteen each squad has its own preference for fighting style. Some prefer speed, some power, intelligience, kidou specialists, but among the thirteen squads there is only one which I think will take full advantage of your second division is one that utilizes soul reapers that have stealth and strength for missions of assasination or any other mission that needs such traits. Your exceptional speed will be found very useful to the captain of the second division, Soi Fon, and your strong fighting abilities will ensure that you get the kill fast. In time I feel that you could become vice captain."

As Seiba spoke Ichigo considered what was said and picked out what went against what he wanted to do. "I'm not sure assasination is my style. I like to fight my opponent head on and not be sneaky. Being an assasin is a cool thing to be, but I want a seat where I will be fighting the most hollows, so I can protect the souls on Earth."

The instructor chuckled in admiration at Ichigo's desire and sighed. "Ichigo, missions to the human world are evenly dispensed to the thirteen squads. Every soul reaper will receive about the same amount of time destroying hollows in the human world, so in choosing your division it is best to think of where you will be best utilized. If you enjoy fair man to man battle then the eleventh division has established its reputation by being combat fanatics, always willing to fight where a good challenge is in store."

Ichigo looked at the floor and pondered for a moment. He shook his head and replied, "No, I'm not the kind of guy that just looks for a fight." The orange haired pupil thought some more. "What about the thirteenth division? Is there any chance that there will be a promotion to captain or vice captain in that division?"

Ichigo's instructor hissed through gritted teeth. "There is a slight chance that there could be a promotion to captain since he is in poor health, but those words have been said for so long I strongly doubt the possibility; especially since captain Ukitake often recovers well and is one of the finest captains the Gotei Thirteen has. And as far as a vice captain spot goes don't even bother. That position is dead locked! There are two vice captains that share that spot, so if one goes the other will just continue in service and even if that last one leaves his position Rukia Kuchiki will surely be lieutenant. You keep this between you and me Ichigo; Rukia is barred from being a captain because Captain Kuchiki is too protective of her and holds Captain Yamamoto to an agreement that she can not be captain even though she is certainly talented enough for it."

With that last piece of information Ichigo had learned what he wanted to know. He could not serve under Rukia. At least he could be in the same division as her.

"Thank you for the information Instructor Seiba. You've given me a better view on what I can do in the thirteen squads."

Instructor Seiba stood up with a grin on his face and stood up to shake Ichigo's hand. Seiba was shorter than most men, had an appearance of about fifty, and wore a white mustache on his face that gave him a look of kind wisdom. "Thats why I am a teacher Ichigo. No need to thank me. Now run along to your dorm! The school day is over, but you still have work to do! Those advanced shunpo maneuvers aren't going to just suddenly work for you!"

Ichigo rolled his eyes and groaned. "Come on Instructor Seiba! Cut me some slack! I just finished class." With those last words Ichigo walked out of Seiba's classroom and made way for his dormitory to get some rest.

As Ichigo traveled down the wooden corridors of Seireitei Academy his stomach started to growl and he remembered that he had gone the entire day without breakfast because he had been late for his first class. 'Luckily the cafeteria is on the way to my dorm!' Ichigo thought with relief and turned left into the chatter filled lunch room. All around the cafeteria kids were laughing and talking with friends as they ate. Ichigo waved hello to a few groups of kids sitting at seperate tables. Ichigo didn't have best friends in Soul Society, but he did have plenty of amiable acquaintances. One thing Ichigo did not know though was that his reputation had earned him an envy filled rival.

Michiyaki Saita eyed down his orange haired enemy with enmity. Michiyaki was a student who showed promise, but he was not one of the top students of Seireitei Academy. Ambition was a strong part of Michiyaki's personality and his ambition fueled his distaste and jealousy for Ichigo. So many times Michiyaki had placed high in the rankings of the academy, but Ichigo was always there at the top. Sure there were other students above Michiyaki, yet Ichigo was the main factor involved in keeping Michiyaki out of the top percentage and he had to live in Ichigo's shadow as the second best hohou student. It was not just Ichigo's soul reaper talents that was the object of Michiyaki's envy: the number one student sometimes caught the eyes of a few of the academy's girls; one of those girls being a girl that caught Michiyaki's eyes. He glared at Ichigo as the orange haired soul reaper in training waited in line to get soba noodles and milk. A malicious grin gleamed across Michiyaki's face as he waited to spring what he had in store for Ichigo.

By the time Ichigo got his food, he waited through a skinny girl complaining to a cafeteria worker about how there was only high protein milk instead of low fat milk and two boys that were younger than him slowly taking their attention away from the dirty playing cards they were holding, so that they could place their order. Smirking with satisfaction at finally getting to have a bite to eat he walked away from the end of the lunch line with noodle bowl and milk carton in hand to sit at a table that had some friends from his hakuda class.

At midpoint to the table a thick sheen of wax suddenly appeared at Ichigo's footsteps causing him to slip with his feet parallel to his waist while he was in midair. He landed with a painful thud as his back and butt crashed to the wooden floor and his food spilled all over him. The students around Ichigo that saw his fall snickered and giggled. Ichigo, blushing and fuming wiped the noodles off his student robes and stood up to eye what caused his fall.

'Wax?! No idiotic janitor is going to wax a wooden floor!' Ichigo thought in confusion, but when noticing that the wax was steadily evaporating he realized that he had been pranked. Now being pissed off Ichigo glared across the room for any indication as to who did this to him.

"Psst! Ichigo!"

Ichigo turned his head to the girl calling him.

"It was Michiyaki! I caught him muttering a low level kidou spell and aiming it at you!"

"That scheming bastard! What should he have against me?! I owe you one Chiame."

The soaked and food stained Kurosaki marched his way through several students and prepared himself for a fight. Michiyaki had already got up from his chair and was waiting for Ichigo with a devilish smirk on his face.

At first Ichigo made no moves to start a fight. Through gritted teeth Ichigo shouted, "What the hell was that about, Saita?!"

Michiyaki laughed smugly. "Kurosaki, I just had to knock that cocky grin off your face. You come into Soul Society, enter shinigami school in a matter of days and rise to the top of the classes while skipping years of study. Someone had to put you in your place and that was me. Don't let that retarded Kuchiki bitch give you ideas by her thinking that you have what it takes to be a captain in Seireitei."

The moment Michiyaki insulted Rukia, Ichigo lost all restraint. She was an angel in his eyes and having Michiyaki insult a woman who so selflessly helped him and gave Ichigo his first feelings of love was something that absolutely required punishment.

Seething with anger Ichigo darkly proclaimed, "Rukia never helped me because she thought I had potential. She helped me out of the kindness of her own heart and so that I could be something more than a kid on the streets. If an egotistical snob like you can't understand that I'm kicking your ass because of what you said about her and not that prank you pulled then you are a pathetic little shit!"

At once Ichigo lunged forward toward MIchiyaki with a punch, but since Ichigo's emotions were overriding his thoughts Michiyaki could easily read his enemy's moves. Michiyaki dodged attack after attack, countering here and there, but mostly letting Ichigo tire himself out with his envigorated efforts.

From the frustration of his ineffective offense Ichigo only tried harder to hurt Michiyaki, giving it his all. Rushing into Michiyaki's attacks and enduring them Ichigo unleashed combination after combination of punches and kicks on him. By now everybody in the cafeteria was paying attention to the fight and crowding around the two fighter's and oohing at Ichigo's brutal mindless attacks. By the tenth hit Michiyaki was done and Ichigo finished him off with an elbow to the forehead. The teacher who was watching over the cafeteria as a monitor had been attempting to break up the fight the entire time it had been going on, but the crowd of kids had been preventing him from doing so. Now that the fight was over he penetrated through the kids and looked at Ichigo's bloodied mouth and nose, then Michiyaki who was clearly more hurt and was pouring more blood from his face.

The teacher looked at Ichigo and in a voice of disapproval said, "Orange, you are going to be in for it whenever you speak to the principal about this."

*~*~*~*  
Principal Ikari was returning to his office from doing the end of school duties that every staff member of the academy did. As he wove in and out of the crowds of students, saying goodbye to the familiar ones, he was thankful that he had got his last paperwork out of the way before he had to so he could leave when school was out. When he arrived at his office and went inside to organize it and turn off the lights he realized that he had one last task to do.

Inside his office was his friend, a kidou teacher by the name of Ginjou Shunsuke, that was standing next to two seated students. One of them was the son of one of the noble clans in Soul Society, Michiyaki Saita and the other was the infamous Ichigo Kurosaki.

"Well, what do we have here?"

"Mr. Ikari, I caught these two fighting in the cafeteria. I did not get the chance to see who instigated the fight, so I will leave them in your hands to resolve whatever happened."

Principal Ikari chuckled, "Thank you Ginjou. I trust you will be at the staff meeting tommorow."

Mr. Shunshuke nodded in affirmation and left Principal Ikari's office.

The principal walked around the two seated students and his desk and sat down in his leather chair across from the boys. Michiyaki had a bruised face and a bloodied lip, Ichigo had barely a scratch on him. 'It must not have been much of a fight.' Ikari mused. The two boys sat with moody expressions on their faces in silence until Ikari spoke.

"Well now, seeing as how it is time for school to be over, I have no intention of dealing with the whole he started it routine. You boys knew the consequences for fighting when you signed the code of conduct. A week of In Building Suspension! And don't think that on squad selection day that you will be let out early so you can sign up on time! Our disciplinarian is strict on every rule that we have for IBS and other campus grounds. It was mentioned in the announcements that there would be no exception for the rules on the week of squad selection."

Ikari's punishment brought out strong reactions from Ichigo and Michiyaki.

"You can't do that! My father is of the noble familes and he provides funding for the Seireitei Academy!"

"Are you kidding me?! This is our future in the Soul Society! You can't punish us so harshly!" Ichigo shouted.

Principal Ikari slammed his fist onto his desk. "Don't put up a protest! I just told you I wasn't going to put up with any nonsense; now return to your dorms and report to the IBS room first thing in the morning before first period's bell rings!"

Michiyaki stormed out of the principal's office to his room and Ichigo was not slow to follow him out into the hallway. He did not utter a word to Michiyaki because of the news that the principal broke to him. Shock and disbelief was all that Ichigo was about at the moment. As Ikari's words sank in, Ichigo was on the verge of tears while he slowly sank down against the wall. Ichigo realized that if he was held in IBS all day then he would have the last pickings for a squad. The thirteenth division was very popular due to the squad's reputation for a fair, reasonable captain and the squad's usually amiable shinigami. His hands were squeezing his face in frustration since the chances of working with the woman whom he loved were now drastically slim. *~*~*~*

Yeah, yeah the chapter ends on sad terms, but don't worry! It gets happier! And keep in mind that in this story the plot isn't what it seems to be at first. You have to wait for the story to develop a few more chapters before you know how it will end up. Please, review my story and tell me what you think of it so far! I will try to update as soon as I can, but I don't have the entire story planned out. Its going chapter by chapter so it might be a week or two before the next chapter is up. 


	2. Chapter 2

It's the second chapter! I would like to thank all the people who added this story to their favorite stories list or to their story alert. I hope you enjoy chapter two. Its here that the story starts to develop. If you like my fic and you haven't reviewed it then REVIEW IT! I've got almost two hundred hits on my story's traffic and only ONE review! By the way, thank you derderxp and Colton B.

The week had been a drag for Ichigo. Hour after hour of sitting in the same spot with nothing else to do, but schoolwork. Some students would try to get away with talking or passing notes, but Ichigo was in no mood to get scolded by the monitor. Ichigo was thankfully undisturbed by Michiyaki who only gave Ichigo a few ugly looks. Ichigo grudgingly did his work; it was all studying and not the practice that all of it required, so half of his work would have to be done outside of the IBS classroom. To the relief of everybody in the classroom there was only a few minutes left until class was dismissed and that meant that they could choose their squads.

Ichigo's heart was racing in his chest. 'Could there be a spot open in the thirteenth division? Can I make it in there? Can I see Rukia?' Ichigo scolded himself for worrying too much.

The bell rang and nobody hesitated to get out of the room. Ichigo gathered his books, rose from his desk and walked out of the IBS room at a quick pace; he made sure that he was ahead of the rest of the students to better his chances in the thirteenth squad. The squad picks were being held in the sparring room at the center of the school. When Ichigo walked into the wide open sparring room he could see that the school staff had left only one person to handle the late sign ups. He was thankful that he had tried to be the first one into the sparring room since the lone squad pick assistant meant that Ichigo had the first pick out of the students in the IBS room.

While Ichigo was stepping up to the registration table the assistant asked for Ichigo's name and what squad he wanted.

"Ichigo Kurosaki and my choice is squad thirteen."

Time seemed to run twice as slow as Ichigo anxiously waited while the assistant rummaged through papers.

"Ah! Ichigo Kurosaki" The assistant looked over Ichigo's record and checked the squad's remaining openings. "You did very well in all classes... well you certainly qualify for this skilled division, but squad thirteen has no seats available. What is your second choice?"

Ichigo squeezed his eyes shut, stroked his hand over his face and through his hair as his last bit of hope was shot down. His heart ached as he remembered the words of Instructor Seiba that suggested where Ichigo should go. 'I can not be with Rukia... I didn't come all this way just for someone else. I wanted to to be with her, but I also wanted to show what I can do. If squad two has a place for me and it is such a talented squad, then that is where I will make my mark.'

"Squad two." Ichigo said dejectedly.

"Now that's more like it! There is a squad that takes some talent! The assistant marked Ichigo up for squad two and inserted Ichigo's record into a folder marked for the squad two captain. The folder made Ichigo think about what he had known of the squad two captain. 'Soi Fon... I've heard that she is a cold, insensitive captain that keeps the people under her constantly training, but that along with her strong powers are supposed to make her among the best of the squad two captains. Even if she has the personality of a hag, she is better than that crazed Kenpachi. I'm not getting my ass killed just because I fight all the time.' Ichigo thanked the assistant and walked away from the sign up table to exit the training grounds.

The few minutes of passing through the corridors to his dorm seemed to stretch out to be much longer because of Ichigo's sadness and his feelings were made no better when he remembered that he had all the practicing to do for his classes. Final exams were coming up in a week. The grades made by the students on their final exams would only be important for the students who were mediocre in their class, but that wouldn't stop Ichigo from showing what he could do.

"Omaeda! Your jogging sessions would go by alot easier if you would cut the junk food out of your diet!"

"But captain! A dozen donuts being on sale for half price is too much of a deal to pass up! Why, I caught you taking some of my donuts! Don't lecture me!" Omaeda panted as he passed his captain on the running track.

Soi Fon flushed a slight tint of pink as Omaeda remembered catching Soi Fon in the act of donut theft. She quickly regrouped and came back with, "I took those so there would be less for your bouncy butt to get fatter with!" as Omaeda laboriously hustled away. Soi Fon watched Omaeda struggle through his jogging and in her thoughts deprecated him. 'Jeez, its almost as if he puts effort into being lazy. He is lucky his family's nobility landed him his position because as far as being vice-captain goes he does not cut it. I don't want to be so hard on him, but if he won't be disciplined he will lose his rank.'

The captain of squad two would often be present with her squad while they exercised. It was a good way to keep her squad from slacking off and with her presence so motivating for the squad it was always a good idea to exercise with them. Her daily work out was over today, but she still had work to get done. Paperwork from Central was always a bother that Soi Fon had to deal with, but this time the paperwork was limited to only one assignment, so Soi Fon was not going to complain.

She sat down in the field that was in the center of the oval that the track formed to examine the folder from Central. When it was opened the folder revealed a background profile of a new shinigami that was transferring from the academy and orders involving how he should be handled. The orders read: "There is a gifted new shinigami arriving in your division tomorrow. It is believed that with his prodigious powers that he could one day become a powerful captain. Train him personally and thoroughly so that he gains specific attention from the best in his division and has the best chance of maximizing his skills. He will be given an officer scouting before the standard time for an officer scouting and it is desired that he passes it.. Your student, Ichigo Kurosaki, will fill out five daily exercise data sheets every week to ensure that he is making progress. Your data sheets are to highlight his strengths and weaknesses over the time he is trained so that it can be easily gauged when to scout him. Again it is stressed that you are as thorough as possible with his training."

Soi Fon held her orders in contempt. Not only has Central dumped her with an unqualified vice-captain, but now they are holding her responsible with the excelling of a beginner soul reaper's abilities(something that was normally thought of as a soul reaper's own duty). Now she would have to babysit two shinigami.

'I don't care how great this kid was in school, there is no reason for a captain to be pulled away from her own assignments to coach a rookie. Thats what the academy is for. Still, it is interesting to see a shinigami get this kind of attention from Central. I'm looking forward to meeting this guy.'

~*~*~*~ The feelings of accomplishment that Ichigo had on his graduation day were enough to make him forget about any anxiety or regret that he had on not getting into the squad that he wanted. He had aced his final and all his friends were so happy and cheerful that Ichigo couldn't help but be uplifted. The head staff of the academy also made some top-notch choices for the graduation party entertainment. In the outdoor courtyard there were ice sculptures of vicious hollows, great captains and academy teachers of the past. The sculptures had been dyed vivid colors so that the colors saturated the eye and gave the sculptures an appearance of stained glass like in a cathedral. There was an entire feast of juicy meats, perfectly ripe fruits, and the sweetest desserts. Captain Yamamoto himself appeared and gave a speech on why he founded the school and gave a motivational speech on the lives the graduates would have in Seireitei. To finish the speech Yamamoto used a fire kidou spell to light a fuse trail that broke off into two separate trails that ended up being a giant wooden soul reaper and a giant wooden hollow battling. They were moved by wires and their blazing bodies would explode a burst of fireworks anytime a blow was landed by the two. The graduation party was just what Ichigo needed to forget his stress.

Graduation was yesterday though and now Ichigo had to move on from his memories and focus on what lay ahead of him today. He was finding his way to the second division headquarters in the labyrinth that was Seireitei. He scanned the directional map he was given of Seireitei at graduation and saw that he would have to walk past the thirteenth division's quarters... which was located right next the second division's quarters. At first this had Ichigo apprehensive, but he summoned his will and would not allow himself to be intimidated by a woman.

'So what if I run into Rukia? I'll just introduce myself to her, thank her for what she did, and continue on with my day. We could talk to each other whenever we run into each other and who knows? Maybe from there she can be my girlfriend.'

With his confidence established he proceeded with walking to his squad's headquarters and made up his mind to catch a glimpse of the thirteenth division's quarters. Ichigo saw why he was given a map of Seireitei. The many paths in the place made finding your way to your destination intricately complex for a stranger to the area. Normally if it took Ichigo fifteen minutes to get to a class in the academy it was because he was on the farthest end of the school and the place he needed to go was all the way across to the opposite end and the halls were crowded, but in Seireitei he had been walking for fifteen minutes in a mostly empty path and he still had more walking to do.

Ichigo was starting to become bored with the stroll that he had to take, but then he saw the sign for the thirteenth squad's quarters. The space that the thirteenth squad inhabited was a tranquil pasture full of green foliage, an artist's palette of colorful wildflowers, and grass that gleamed gold when reflecting the sun as it was tossed around by the wind. Ichigo hoped that his quarters would match the quality of what he saw in front of him, but his line of sight was taken from the pasture by someone that looked familiar.

"Shut up, Renji! It's not funny!"

"I'm sorry Rukia, but when little Lieutenant Yachiru bumps into you and yells, "Out of my way midget first year!", I've got to laugh!"

"Oh, whatever! It's ridiculous how much hardship I endure because of my height." Rukia faked a tragic pose and a pained face. As Renji was walking her back to the thirteenth squad's gateway, Rukia happened to look over in Ichigo's direction. Ichigo had an unmistakable stare on Rukia, so when Rukia looked at him, Ichigo quickly faced the direction he was walking in and tried to act casual.

"I'll see you later Renji." Rukia had a funny feeling when she made eye contact with that guy. She had the kind of feeling you get when you remember something and you're not sure if it actually happened or if it was from a dream. 'Why does that guy with orange hair look familiar? If I met a person with hair like that I don't think I could forget him. How strange.'

Any assurance that Ichigo had on talking to Rukia was shot down. Seeing her for the first time in five years was an intoxicating experience, but with those feelings of beauty that Ichigo had, there were feelings of anxiety to accompany them. Though he did not try to talk to Rukia, Ichigo knew from how he felt from just seeing her that talking to her would feel like a much harder ordeal than it should be. What he had thought was a good way to start conversation was stupid now under the analysis that he put on talking to Rukia and now every way he thought of talking to Rukia seemed dumb. Ichigo felt like kicking himself in the head.

The contemplation he did on Rukia lasted him until he came to squad two's quarters. It seemed that the outdoorsy setup that squad thirteen had might be standard for every squad because squad two had a similar setup.

Ichigo walked through the wooden gate into the squad grounds that would be his. He could see a couple of the members of the special forces sparring with each other in a clearing while several others were exercising in a small gym. For seeing the captain though, she seemed nowhere in Ichigo's sight. Ichigo walked toward the people in the gym to question about the captain.

The gym reeked of sweat and body odor, Ichigo could smell it even as he was approaching it from a distance. The largest of all the squad members noticed Ichigo and headed to Ichigo way to meet with him.

"You must be Ichigo Kurosaki."

"I am."

"Welcome to squad two. I'm vice-captain Marechiyo Omaeda."

"Thank you, sir. Could you tell me where the captain would be at right now?"

Ichigo was poked in his should and a woman's criticizing voice said, "I'm right behind you"

Ichigo jumped from being startled by Soi Fon's sudden introduction.

She sighed in disappointment. "I was behind you the entire time you were looking for me, first year. Your awareness is something that we will have to work on."

Ichigo was surprised by Soi Fon's appearance. Assuming from what he had heard about her personality, he depicted her as a plain, rather masculine middle aged woman. In reality she was a dainty, cute girl. Even with her toned body she didn't look like she could be much of a threat to anyone, but from training in the academy Ichigo knew better than to judge fighters by their looks.

"Come along to my office, Ichigo. We will have to fill out your paperwork and discuss the stealth forces way of life."

Soi Fon gestured to a building that was larger than all the other buildings. It was a two story pavilion that held the bedrooms for both the lieutenant and the captain. Ichigo followed Soi Fon to this pavilion and couldn't resist thinking that maybe someday by having great talent so early in his development he would be able to have the best housing in Seireitei to call his own. Soi Fon led him into the building and the inside was not what Ichigo expected.

"That's odd. Since this place is bigger than all the other houses I thought that it would be much more luxurious than this." When entering the pavilion all that could be seen was a moderate sized entryway and a hallway that led to a staircase. None of what could be seen so far had any decoration. It all looked so dull and bland.

"That's because this part of the officer's pavilion isn't lived in by anyone." Responded Soi Fon. "You'll see more style if you get into actual rooms."

Soi Fon's office was up the stairs and in the first door of the second story. It was orderly with no mess and nothing out of place.

"Now, Ichigo, tell me why you chose squad two to be your squad." Soi Fon insisted.

"Well, as you probably know from my record I did really well in school. I was the top student in my grade, so I wanted a squad where I would do more than just the usual things a shinigami does. But don't get me wrong. Hunting hollows is the reason why I became a shinigami. I'm not unhappy with the basic duties of a soul reaper. I had heard that this squad was one where exceptional soul reapers went to. That made it seem like the right choice for me."

"Well this is only true for the stealth forces, Ichigo. The second squad is under my leadership along with the stealth forces, which section you are placed in is dependent on how you perform in your training. Even if you are placed in the second squad you will do more work than the other squads. I make training a weekly part of my soul reaper's lives and in the stealth forces I expect twice as much from them because I cannot afford for them to screw up. Any division under my control is expected to have soul reapers in peak condition."

"Peak physical condition? What about your fat vice-captain? He is the second in command and he is in some of the worse shape that I have seen for a shinigami."

Soi Fon grimaced briefly and muttered, "He is a special case. He has skills that balance his poor health." Which was half a lie. Omaeda did have some attributes, but his physique handicapped him from being as good as the other shinigami in the squad in times of combat. "As I was saying, in order for you to be fit it is a requirement for you to exersise five days a week. Normally how much you work out is up to your own discretion, but you seem to be a special case." Soi Fon remarked with an air of interest.

Ichigo was interested as well. "Special case? What do you mean?"

"For the first time in the history of Soul Society a soul reaper's progress is being monitored by Central Forty Six. They have heard of your skill in the academy and they hope that the best is brought out of you for the sake of Soul Society." Ichigo's eyes went wide as he was stunned by Soi Fon's words. "It seems that you are being groomed to be the next mighty captain of Seiretei. The normal time a soul reaper is given an opportunity to be a captain is a millennium, if not recommended by another captain. You will be given a scouting much sooner than this, but Central did not clarify the time to me."

Ichigo was confused, but excited at the great chance that was being given to him. There had been great students of the past, but they did not achieve captain's rank through the path that Ichigo could in his career. 'Why me?' Was all Ichigo could think. "Did Central tell you why they were doing this, Captain Soi Fon?"

"All that was said to me was that you are skilled and they want those skills to grow as much as possible." The room was silent for a second. "How did you enroll in Seireitei Academy? Are you from a noble family?"

"I enrolled in the academy by Rukia Kuchiki's recommendation. I don't have any noble ancestry."

This was a small relief for Soi Fon. 'He ought to be more skilled than Omaeda if his school record has any accuracy, but still it's good to know that Central isn't catering to the rich.'

"Captain, I know that the stealth forces are involved with assassination. Is there anything else that is special that the stealth forces do?"

"There are many different jobs for the stealth forces. Some relay information, some guard Seireitei, some watch prisoners in the detention center, and others assasinate the enemies of Seireitei and Soul Society. Whichever job you will be performing is dependent on your performance when I train you."

Ichigo had enough of talking about what he was going to do. All of what Soi Fon said about having to show what he could do to find where he would be placed had Ichigo pumped up for action. His experiences in the academy gave him confidence in his abilities that made him want to get training over with so he could go out and get his job done. The orange haired soul reaper believed that he would be placed in the job where there was the most action. "So? When are we going to get this training started?" Ichigo had a cocky grin on his face and his voice carried a hint of invigoration.

Soi Fon smirked in amusement on Ichigo's sudden enthusiastic attitude. "It starts tomorrow, so take today to get acquainted with the squad and learn where everything in the squad quarters is. Your room is in the squad cabin three hundred and twenty six. As for your robes you will not get those until you finish your training. Meet me in front of the officer's pavillion at eight in the morning. If you're late you will have to do more in your training."

"Don't worry about that captain. I will see you here in the morning. Good bye."

Soi Fon nodded her head as a good bye and looked over Ichigo's information. 'I have seen these kind of stats before and they mean the same thing every time. Speed and power makes an assasin. Ichigo Kurosaki is going to be a killer."

Well thats the chapter guys. The next one is going to have some action of course since Ichigo starts his training. Sorry for the long wait. Hopefully the next one won't take so long. I know this fic starts slow, but its going somewhere. Trust me. Just stick with it and read. You will find out.


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